Picture of city news stand with tobacco warning label, photo credit: Unsplash / Jamie Muller

Communication Neuroscience Lab

GeoScan Smoking Study

How do the places we go and things we see influence the way we use our brains? For example, do neural responses to point-of-sale tobacco (POST) cues change as a function of real-world exposure to those cues over time?

This study examines whether exposure to point-of-sale tobacco marketing affects smoking behavior, experiences of craving, and neural reactivity in response to different types of smoking cues, including pictures of retail outlets. If it is the case that lower exposure to point of sale tobacco marketing decreases smoking behavior, this emphasizes the importance of further regulation of retail advertising for tobacco. Examination of neural responses and craving in response to smoking cues will further provide evidence for a biological mechanism through which such effects take hold.

Key Publications

Cooper, N., Muzekari, B., Resnick, A., Paul, A. M., Torres, O., Sayed, F., Beard, E., Cakar, M., Carreras Tartak, J., Hao, S., Mattan, B. D., Andrews, M. E., Johnson, D. G., Benitez, C., Zhou, E., Scholz, C., Barnett, I., Fichman, M., Henriksen, L., Kirchner, T. R., Lydon-Staley, D. M., Strasser, A. A., & Falk, E. B. (2026). Using ecological momentary assessment, geolocation tracking, and neuroimaging to assess effects of tobacco retail exposure on smoking behavior: Protocol for the GeoSmoking Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 15, e89627. https://doi.org/10.2196/89627
Supplementary Materials
Muzekari, B., Cooper, N., Resnick, A., Paul, A. M., Torres, O., Andrews, M., Mattan, B. D., Scholz, C., Johnson, D. G., Carreras Tartak, J., Cakar, M., Hao, S., Zhou, E., Beard, E., Mesquiti, S., Sayed, F., Fichman, M., Lydon-Staley, D. M., Barnett, I., Strasser, A. A., Kirchner, T. R., Henriksen, L., Falk, E. B. (2025). Naturalistic tobacco retail exposure and smoking outcomes in adults who smoke cigarettes daily. JAMA Network Open, 8(9), e2530132. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.30132.
Supplementary Materials
Andrews, M., Cooper, N., Mattan, B. D., Carreras-Tartak, J., Paul, A. M., Strasser, A. A., Henriksen, L., & Falk, E. B. (2025). Causal effects of point-of-sale cigarette promotions and subjective social status on cigarette craving: A randomised within-person experiment. Tobacco Control, 34(2), 220–227. https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2023-058069
Supplementary Materials

Key Collaborators

Thomas Kirchner (NYU)
Lisa Henriksen (Stanford)
Ian Barnett (Penn)
Andrew Strasser (Penn's Perelman School of Medicine)
Michael Fichman (Penn’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design)
David Lydon-Staley (Penn's Annenberg School for Communication)

Funding

NCI / NIH / DHHS
Falk (PI)
03/19-08/25
Cancer Prevention through Neural and Geospatial Examination of Tobacco Marketing Effects in Smokers
1R01CA229305-01A1